now that I’m faced with it, I find myself collecting my thoughts.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Presumably, you’ve asked her?”
“Yes, sir. This morning. In General Hanrahan’s house.”
“What did you do, drive straight back here?”
“No, sir. We’re in Colonel Lowell’s Cessna.”
“Lowell loaned you his Cessna?”
“No, sir. He sent it after me. I’m headed for Florida. My parents are there. I want to take Marjorie with me, to meet them.”
“I have no objection to that,” Bellmon said. “Where in Florida?”
“Someplace called Ocean Reef,” Jack said.
“I’ve been there. Lowell owns a house there. So does his cousin. Lieutenant Craig’s father?”
“Yes, sir, but speaking of objections . . .”
“Is Lieutenant Craig there, with his parents?”
“No, sir. I mean he’s here at Rucker. He and Pappy . . . Major Hodges . . . were flying the Cessna. I’m going to fly it to Florida. His wife and the baby are there. His parents, too, I think.”
“I see,” General Bellmon said. “Well, all’s well—including this nightmare—that ends well, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“No objections, Jack, to you and Marjorie getting married. I really don’t have much choice, do I?”
“I’d like to have your approval, sir.”
“Well, you have it, Jack,” General Bellmon said. “And I know Mrs. Bellmon shares my high opinion of you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“When were you thinking of getting married?”
“I thought right away, sir.”
Bellmon’s voice was cold when he asked: “Is there some reason you feel you should get married right away?”
“Yes, sir, now that you bring it up, there is.”
“Well, those things happen. It certainly won’t be the first time in recorded history, will it? Has she seen a doctor?”
“Sir?” Jack asked, confused, and then comprehension dawned.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, General,” he said. “What I was thinking was that I realize this whole situation is a little awkward for you—”
“What situation is a little awkward?” Bellmon asked.
“I’m an enlisted man, and she’s a general’s daughter,” Jack said.
“Why should that be awkward?” Bellmon challenged.
Jack looked at him helplessly.
“What I thought was that it would be easier for everyone all around if we got married right away, in a quiet ceremony, in Florida, just my family, and of course you and Mrs. Bellmon. . . .”
“Is this what Marjorie wants?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask her.”
“You don’t think she’ll have an opinion?”
Jack didn’t reply.
“Mrs. Bellmon and I were married in the Cadet Chapel at West Point,” Bellmon said. “As were our parents. Both sides.”
“I didn’t go to West Point,” Jack argued. “But if that’s what she wants, why not?”
“Mrs. Bellmon will probably think of Chapel One here at Rucker,” Bellmon said. “With a reception at the club.”
“General, I’m a sergeant. I don’t belong to the officers’ club.”
“Incidentally, I did notice the stripes. Congratulations. When did that happen?”
“Just before we went to Europe.”
“And what are those, Belgian paratrooper’s wings?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, I guess you earned them the hard way, didn’t you?”
Jack didn’t reply.
“Jack, I am not the rambling idiot I sound like,” Bellmon said. “I had no idea that facing the fact of Marjorie getting married would scramble my brains like this.”
“General, I love her, and I’ll take good care of her.”
“Yes, I’m sure you will,” Bellmon said.
He put out his hand.
They shook solemnly.
“Where is she?” Bellmon asked.
“At your house, asking permission to come to Florida with me.”
“There would be room in the Cessna for Mrs. Bellmon, wouldn’t there be?” Bellmon asked, distractedly, obviously thinking out loud. “I could get an L-23 over the weekend, take Bobby. . . .”
“Since you’re about to join the family, Jack,” Bellmon said, “let me tell you about my wife and Colonel Lowell. Anything she wants, she can have. I think he does it to piss me off. We have an open invitation to Ocean Reef—my wife does. If one of the houses isn’t available, they put us up in a hotel.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack said.
“And the way it works, Jack, is that women do weddings. All the man has to do is show up sober at the church.”
He smiled at his own wit, then touched Jack’s arm and prodded him toward the door.
Captain Hornsby rose from his desk as they came into the outer office.
“If anybody wants me, I’ll be at my quarters,” General Bellmon said.
“Yes, sir.”
“And Dick, call the post chaplain. Give him a heads-up. Mrs.
Bellmon will probably call him tomorrow about a wedding.”
“Yes, sir.”
[ FIVE ]
Base Operations
Cairns Army Airfield
Fort Rucker, Alabama
1710 3 December 1964
When Major Daniel McCarthy, the AOD (Airfield Officer of the Day) returned to the Base